The private jet experience

A JetSuite Phenom 100 jet seats four passengers and has a range of about 1100 miles

Now that we are deep into the summer travel season and fares are soaring, planes are bulging, and security lines are lengthening… Have you ever wondered what it would be like to jump on a private jet and take off on a business trip or vacation?

Since I’ve often dreamed about jumping on a private jet and wondered exactly what the whole experience was like, I called on Gareth Edmondson-Jones of JetSuite, a California company that offers private jet travel in and around the western U.S. JetSuite was started in 2007 by the same folks who founded JetBlue Airways, and like JetBlue, it claims to offer a lower, simplified pricing structure that’s held up, even in recent lean years.

So I thought up a hypothetical trip between San Francisco and Las Vegas for me and three colleagues (if I were on business) or me and three wealthy friends (if I were on a high-roller vacation) and asked Edmondson-Jones to explain how it all works.

Here’s what I learned:

First, I’d call JetSuite to determine if they had jets available on the dates and destinations I needed. Once that’s determined, I would want to know how much it would cost, and then make a reservation using a credit card.

On JetSuite, the full tab to transport four of us to Las Vegas and back would be about $7500– so around $1900 each. With JetSuite, you pay about $3250 per hour. Higher volume users can get discounts by putting down a minimum deposit of $50,000 and then drawing off that for several trips throughout the year. (According to Edmonson-Jones, JetSuite is considered a less expensive option than traditional private jet charter companies, which typically run in the $7000 per hour range, but offer larger jets with longer range.)

Now, for the actual trip to Vegas. Instead of driving or cabbing all the way down to SFO from the city, we’d exit 101 onto the North Access Road and drive around the airport over to the bay side of the runways to the Signature Aviation Terminal. We’d park steps away from the front door in its small lot, or let the cab drop us off. (No long walks across parking lots and roadways. No check in lines or kiosks. No security screening.)

Then we’d enter the terminal, hand our itinerary to the receptionist who would then call up our pilots and plane (who should be there waiting). We’d sit in the lounge for a few minutes (similar to a business class lounge) and wait for the plane to appear.

Once the plane pulled up outside the lounge, the two pilots would come in and ask us to board. Then we’d bring our bags outside, have them loaded into the luggage compartment. (No TSA security searches. No full body scans. No ID checks. No waiting in lines to clear security or board the plane. No escalators or long walks down terminal corridors.)

The Phenom 100 interior

Then we’d jump on the plane. JetSuite has a fleet of seven new Phenom 100 aircraft– small, super efficient jets that carry two pilots and four passengers. Edmondson-Jones says that the Phenom’s interior feels like a new sports car with BMW-designed beige leather seats, arranged 2×2 facing each other. Each seat has individual light and air flow controls, 110-volt power plugs and individual Bose noise-canceling headsets. With 26 inches between seats, there’s plenty of room to cross your legs, get comfortable and work on each seat’s tray table. There’s also a catering cabinet stocked with pre-ordered drinks and snacks (but no flight attendants.)

Once we’re boarded, the flight would taxi out and take off for the 90-minute flight down to Las Vegas. We’d land at the executive airfield at Henderson, Nevada instead of at the main McCarran Airport, located about eight miles away.

From the runway there, we’d pull up to a similar executive air terminal where they would unload our bags and have them delivered to the car or taxi we’d have reserved ahead of time for the trip into the city. (Our plane would then leave Las Vegas to continue picking up and transporting passengers among other airports.)

After two days in Vegas engaged in either business or debauchery, we’d take a cab back to Henderson where another Phenom jet and two pilots would be waiting for us, and then reverse the process.

I used a relatively simple example here to paint a picture of the private jet experience. If our itinerary included multiple stops over a day or so or included cities not served by commercial airlines, it might make more financial sense. But when time’s of the essence and you’ve got the bucks to burn, going private can work well…especially when peak summer travel season is at hand.